Page 65 of If The Fates Allow
Her question made Noah grow angrier, and he whipped around, seizing her by the hand. “We’re leaving.”
Dragging her away from her brother, Willa struggled to keep up with Noah’s long strides and ended up tripping on something protruding from the ground. “Oof.”
Noah caught her by the upper arms before she fell, and Cal rushed up from behind to do the same, the lantern in her brother’s hand dropping to the ground in his hurry to help. The candle behind the glass remained lit as it struck the soft dirt of the graveyard, revealing exactly what had caused her to trip.
A foot.
Thin and pale, the foot protruded from the disturbed earth, exposed as high as a few inches above the ankle where a piece of cloth could be seen.
No, not a cloth. A gown.
A nightgown.
With floral embroidery that Willa recognized immediately.
My mother made it for me right before she died.
A scream caught in Willa’s throat, nearly bursting out of her if not silenced by Noah’s hand covering her mouth.
“Hold it together until we get out of here, Willa,” he whispered urgently in her ear. “They’ve all gone mad.”
Cal kneeled, and setting his lantern upright, he lovingly stroked the foot with a single finger. “I’m sorry, Willa. I truly am. I’m sorry we didn’t realize what he was doing to you sooner. I’m sorry for Grace. I loved her as much as you did and didn’t mean to let their secret slip. I really didn’t.”
Calming slightly, Willa pressed herself against Noah’s chest, and he released his hold on her mouth. “It wasyouwho told Father about Grace and Tommy?”
Cal hung his head in shame. “I had no idea he would kill him.”
Her heart broke for her brother. He must have carried the guilt of outing Grace all this time. “And you had no idea he would murder sweet Jennie, too.”
“Why would he kill Jennie?” Her brother’s golden head rolled up to face her, the lantern’s light showing her a stranger laughing in ghoulish delight. “Oh, Willa. You’re so naïve.”
Noah dragged her away slowly as her brother rose to stand. “Father was right about doing whatever it takes to succeed. It’s the only way to live, or else you become just another peg in the wheel, another body in the masses of mediocrity,” Cal said, sneering at her ignorance. “We couldn’t very well say he ran off with a serving girl only to have her deny the claim, could we?”
“No, no, no, no,” Willa whispered, shaking her head as Noah continued to pull her with him down the hill. “No, Cal.”
“Loose ends, Willa.” Her brother’s mouth twisted into a manic grin. “Always tie them up.”
Hustling her now, Noah didn’t speak when they reached the forest trail, and holding her hand, he hastened them past her mother and Bonnie.
“Never return, Wilhelmina,” her mother intoned as they went by. “There’s nothing for you at Haven House. Forget this place and let it rot into but a memory.”
Firmly tucked at Noah’s side, Willa buried her face in his chest, keeping up with his pace while she cried hysterically.
“Goodbye, little girl,” Bonnie called after them as she and Noah neared the curve, so close to disappearing from their sight. “Willa only has a short life ahead of her, Dr. Anderson. Please make it a good one.”
EPILOGUE
“The man at the general store said the place is haunted.”
Striking a dip on the road, the Lincoln Continental bounced roughly, and Willa gripped Noah’s leg to steady herself. Her bones were tired from traveling, and she knew his were too, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
“Oh, I’m sure it is haunted.” Noah shifted in his seat and snuggled Willa closer. “But no more than any other old place.”
Their granddaughter slowed the car’s progress down the clay lane and peered up at the tunnel of oaks with its Spanish moss dangling overhead. “It certainly looks like it could be haunted,” Anne mumbled, wrinkling her nose. “I know this is your family’s land, but would you care to tell me why you want to see this place so badly, Nana?”
“I grew up here.”
Willa smiled when their granddaughter spun around in the driver’s seat with her mouth hanging open. “I knew you lived in Florida growing up, but I didn’t know you lived in some old haunted house.”
